


Sunset in Georgia

by foryouandbits



Series: Tumblr Ficlets [4]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Ficlet, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-08-19 18:50:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8221253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foryouandbits/pseuds/foryouandbits
Summary: Just before the fireworks at the 4th of July, Jack takes a moment to appreciate what he has.





	

Jack wasn’t one for regrets, not anymore at least. There was a point, right after the draft, where regret consumed him daily. He would sit on the edge of his bed with his hockey stick and watch the sun set out his window and just feel the weight of it as it disappeared. The sun would come back in the morning and he would still be there in his childhood bedroom in Montreal instead of in an apartment or a house in a different city with a professional hockey team that wanted him. Maybe even, if he were lucky, he would be in an apartment or a house in Montreal, close to home, but with the knowledge that when he saw the sun again he would have fulfilled the legacy thrust upon him at birth.

The all-consuming regret faded gradually. His mother pushed him to take a break and coach. The children were easy – they were bad at hockey and loved to fall down. He could spend the morning leading the youngest ones around the rink by the hand. When he had older children he could teach them actual techniques and smile when they accomplished them successfully. Then one day they dumped a cooler of Gatorade on him after winning the championship game and he didn’t regret a single thing about his life anymore.

But if he still believed in regret, he would definitely regret kissing Eric Bittle five minutes before he had to leave town.

Not kissing Bitty at all was not an option – that would be a real regret, leaving school forever without telling Bitty, or at least showing Bitty, how he felt. It just would have been nice to have done it sooner. They could have had hours, or days, or months to be with each other before graduation. It didn’t matter in the end; it happened the way it happened, and Jack had to accept that they would spend most of the summer apart.

The trip to Madison had been a bit stressful so far. Bitty was not out to his parents so when Jack’s fingers would gravitate to Bitty’s skin, Bitty would shift away or clear his throat and Jack would hide his hands in his pockets to remember that contact had to be limited here. It was no surprise then, on the Fourth of July, that they ended up kissing heavily in the bed of the Bittle family truck, waiting for the sun to set before the fireworks began.

Jack shifted frequently with Bitty underneath him, his shirt sticking to his neck, to his back, under his armpits as they both sweat in the swelter of the Georgia daytime. The sun was headed toward the horizon but it barely mattered in terms of temperature. Bitty wore next to nothing to accommodate, and more than likely to tease, and Jack had packed poorly. His jeans were too heavy and his sleeves of his T-shirt felt entire too long, but nothing was going to stop him in this moment. He would die of heat exhaustion before he stopped kissing Bitty.

“Jack, you’re going to kill me,” Bitty whined, trying to maneuver from under Jack’s weight.

“It’s a nice way to go, eh?”

“You’re right,” said Bitty and Jack caught his lips another time. Bitty moaned softly into his mouth and relaxed under Jack’s body, but it was a brief reprieve before Bitty’s hands pressed against Jack’s chest and pushed him away again. “Stop it, I’m sweating bullets over here.”

Jack reluctantly sat up and the separation did make a difference in temperature, although did nothing for Jack’s overwhelming desire to touch Bitty again. Bitty didn’t help – he reached through the middle window on the back of the truck and bent his body right over to grab something from the back seat, giving Jack a perfect view of his entire leg, from his bare feet all the way up to the curve of his ass, just barely hidden by his shorts. Jack stared until Bitty returned with a UGA hand towel that he proceeded to use to wipe his face and the back of his neck before he threw it at Jack to do the same. Bitty sat against the back of the truck and the angle was just perfect to catch the descending sunlight to the west.

Bitty needed a haircut – not that it was anything near playoff length, or pre-chop length, but the sides had grown in enough that the towel had tousled his hair out of place and the top curled down onto his forehead. Jack didn’t realize it back then, but he’d been disappointed when Bitty got the chop, a weird sinking feeling in his chest when they saw each other the first time and Jack let his eyes roam over the shortened hair. It looked incredibly soft back then, and looked just as soft now, probably even more so now that he’d let it grow a bit.

“Honey?” Bitty asked. “You okay?”

“Just looking at you,” said Jack. A smile curled the side of Bitty’s mouth and a faint blush, or perhaps a sunburn, crept over the arches of his cheeks. The smile broke his concentration and Jack remembered, with a bit of embarrassment, that Bitty was his now, that he didn’t need to just stare and admire. Jack leaned forward and ran his fingers over the back of Bitty’s head.

“Gross, honey, I’m all sweaty.”

It was actually quite the contrary – the towel had helped with most of the sweat and the result was just a smooth, sweet feeling of golden hair against Jack’s fingertips. He rested the palm of his hand against Bitty’s cheek and Bitty curled into it like a cat, the smile widening on his lips as he stared up at Jack through his eyelashes. As Bitty turned his head his blond hair caught the sunlight and Jack’s fingers automatically began to chase it through the highlights of Bitty’s hair, causing Bitty to giggle under his touch, until Bitty pulled away and pressed a kiss into Jack’s palm.

“I love you,” said Jack. Bitty curled his head into Jack’s hand again.

“I love you too, Jack,” he whispered.

There was nothing to regret here – no ill will about the draft, about the press’s speculation, about his break from playing hockey, about his decision to go to college so late, about falling in love with Eric Bittle the same time he signed a contract to play a sport where no one was openly gay. Maybe they realized their feelings later than expected, but that moment in the setting sun, their lives were perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired specifically by [this post](http://bittlesbooty.tumblr.com/post/151064914680/bittysplaylist-annundriel-and-i-did-a-thing-on).


End file.
